The present disclosure relates generally to displays for electronic devices and, more specifically, to adjusting a color gamut of the displays in various ambient lighting environments.
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays are self-emissive, in that the amount of light emitted from any subpixel in the displays depend on an amount of current passing through a light emitting diode in that subpixel. As a result, OLED displays work without a backlight, which enable them to display deep black levels, high contrast, and bright colors. Further, OLED displays have fast response times and result in displays that are thinner and lighter than a liquid crystal display (LCD).
In a dark environment, an OLED display viewer generally sees the colors emitted by the display, as the colors were intended to be perceived. However, as the amount of ambient light striking the display increases, some of the ambient light is reflected from the display itself into a viewer's eyes. For instance, the ambient light may be reflected by a front surface of the display, any metallic or conducting layers within the display, interfaces within the display in which a refractive index in one layer is different from a refractive index in an adjacent layer, and the like.
In very bright environments, the amount of light reflected from the display can significantly reduce the perceived light emitted from the display and can lower the contrast of the display. Additionally, the amount of light reflected from the display can reduce the color saturation of the display. Since the reflected light will tend to be neutral in coloration, colored areas of the display will effectively have some amount of white added to those areas, which leads to desaturation. Due to the decreased color saturation, along with the decreased image contrast, in bright ambient lighting conditions, it may be difficult to discern the image being displayed on the OLED display.